For the Love of Automail
by Wofl
Summary: Gen. Implied Edwin. Ed visits Rush Valley.


Rush Valley is a melting pot of glamour and sparkle. Everywhere there is hustle, bustle, money exchanged, tourists with glassy eyes and fluttering hearts, and motion everywhere. Everyone is moving, rushing, have to go, get there, be there. There isn't room to stop or sit down or even breathe, during the busy season.

But those that live there can tell you in a minute that the city isn't just pizzazz and glimmer. Beneath the tacky gold paint and big signs there is dirt and grime, perhaps worse than most other places.

"We've been having a real problem with thieves lately," Winry explains to Edward as they shuffle their way through the steady streams of people that filter through the train station. "People think they can come here and get rich quick, but really, there's no work here for them unless they have skills, so they end up leaving or on the streets."

"And the ones that stay on the streets have been stealing to support themselves?" Ed grunts out, suddenly changing directions and shuffling a few steps to throw himself onto a nearby bench and to let a few obscenities roll over his tongue.

"Basically, yeah," Winry states with a shrug and seats herself next to him a bit more delicately than he had. "It locked up again?"

"Yeah. Fucking piece of junk," Ed grumbles. He flinches as Winry smacks him across the shoulder and admonishes him not to talk about her art like that.

"Let me see it," she says. She'd hoped that they could wait until they arrived back at the shop so that she could look at the problem in question (and the only reason Ed i in Rush Valley at all), but if his leg is locking up this frequently, she doubts they'd make it all the way back before dark. Hopefully, it's something she can provide a quick fix for.

Obediently, Ed roll up his pant leg and leans back allowing her to bend over the metal appendage, a wrench she's produced from who-knows-where in her hand. She fidgets and prods for a few minutes with the knee before straightening, a critical eye still trained on his automail. "Okay, try straightening it out."

Slowly, Ed straightens out his leg until with a rattle that turns into a grinding noise, his leg catches again and he finds himself unable to straighten it out any further.

"Aha!" Winry declares, and without asking him, fumbles for the catch and releases his leg with a pop.

"Winry!" he protests immediately, but she's already pulled the appendage onto her lap and is pulling off the metal kneecap and fishing around inside.

"Don't be a baby. I'll give it back in a minute," she mutters, waving one hand flippantly at him before turning her attention back tot eh leg. He sighs, blowing his bangs out of his eyes before folding his arms in a way that clearly said, "I'm sulking."

"Edward, there are ROCKS in here. No wonder it keeps locking up! What the hell were you doing?" She declares violently, a moment later, fishing several small pebbles out from within the confines of the knee.

He cocks a sheepish half grin and scratches at the back of his head. "Fighting in a gravel pit."

She tips the leg upside down and shakes it, allowing a few more to fall out before resting it on the ground and balancing it upright with one hand as she turns to look at him. "Pardon?"

"Heh, you know there's a funny story to that! You see the guy was trying to build bombs, and I didn't really…" Winry isn't listening anymore, because suddenly, there was a jerk and her hand that had previously been balancing Ed's leg upright was hovering in midair and a grungy looking man in a tattered coat was speeding away as fast as he could, leg in hand.

"What the fuck?" the blonde girl shrieks, and she is on her feet in an instant, tearing after the man. Ed is shouting somewhere behind her but she's can't really tell, and it's not like he can go anywhere anyways, so she ignores him and focuses on catching up to the thief.

He's fast, and Winry thinks she probably won't be able to catch up if she doesn't do something fast. Before she can think about it, she has thrown the wrench in her hand and she watches as it sails across the gap between them and collides with the back of his neck. He flinches and stumbles half a step and turns to look back at her. It's in doing this that he makes his mistake, however, because it isn't long before he looks back at her again and while he's not looking where he's going, he runs straight into a station worker pushing a cart filled with luggage.

He trips and goes flying over the cart and Winry wants to cringe at the way he lands on the hard concrete, face first. But business first. She jobs the remainder of the way over to him and wrenches the leg out of his outstretched hands and I thank god /I it's not damaged.

A few moments later, the police have arrived and the man is in handcuffs being led away and Winry makes her way back over to Ed. "What the hell was that about?" He grumbles.

"Well, you remember the thieves I was talking about?" She asks, pressing the leg back into its socket before it can be stolen again.

"Yeah?" Ed pants a few moments later, when his mind clears and the pain isn't one constant stream of liquid burning through his body. "You're telling me they steal peoples' automail?"

"Among other things," she shrugs, screwing the kneecap back in place. "You're lucky he didn't get away."

"Thanks to you," he responds with a laugh. "I dunno what I'd do without you Winry."

She blushes a bit, but the words make her feel warm inside, like she can't stop smiling. Her face might crack, if her grin gets any bigger. "Yeah, well, I couldn't let that guy get away with my masterpieces, could I? Even if does belong to a knucklehead like you who doesn't take care of it."


End file.
